Force of Impact
by Messr. Moony the Wolf
Summary: Four years after the defeat of Ozai, Katara is returning to the Fire Nation to comfort Zuko after Mai's death. But there's always been chemistry there, ever since the Catacombs of Ba Sing Se... is there something worth persuing hiding in the shadows?
1. The Lonely Heart, the Broken Heart

**AN: Hello there! I would like to welcome you to my newest Fanfic! This is the first ATLA Fanfic I've written, and I'm super excited to be writing about one of my favorite pairings – Zutara! This is going to be several chapters with a plot and a bit of conflict, as well as pretty fluffy in some parts. Nothing too bad though, I have no desire to write that sort of stuff. Here we go with chapter 1!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that you recognize. I'm just borrowing it for the purposes of letting my creative juices flow.**

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><p>Chapter 1: The Lonely Heart, the Broken Heart<p>

Watching the sunrise at the South Pole is really nice, but there's nothing more beautiful than sunrises in the Fire Nation.

This is what I was thinking of as I stood at the bow of the ship taking me to the Fire Nation so I could be with my old friend, Fire Lord Zuko. His love, Mai, had died recently and he was devastated. He'd requested my presence for the funeral, but we both knew I'd be there longer to comfort him and such. That's what I do. That's what I used to do, back when we traveled the world on Appa's back so Aang could master the four elements. I didn't mind. Healing was in my nature, and I was more than happy to help Zuko put his life back together.

"Master Waterbender!" I turned at the sound of the captain's voice, a faint smile twitched at the corners of my mouth.

"Good morning Captain Zhong. And I believe I have told you, you really can call me Katara. I don't mind." He nodded sheepishly, then continued. He wasn't much older then me, this captain, but he insisted that I be treated like royalty. When I tried to protest, he insisted, on account of the fact that I had been the one to defeat Princess Azula, not to mention that I had been the Avatar's waterbending teacher. I had reluctantly agreed, but I was speaking with Zuko about this, no doubt.

"My apologies, Master Katara. I wanted to point out to you the harbor of the Capital City." He pointed off to the left, and I turned. For the first time, and feeling rather foolish for not seeing it earlier, I noticed the great Gates of Azulon, which guard the harbor. I grinned, memories of the invasion on the day of the eclipse flooding back. The smile slipped off my face as I remembered my father being captured while our little gang plus Haru, Teo, and the Duke fled to the Western Air Temple. That was one of the most heartbreaking days of my life.

The boat pulled past the gates and docked in the harbor barely 20 minutes later. Though I was a waterbender, I did miss solid ground sometimes. Especially when all your friends were on solid ground.

My luggage was brought up from below decks by two of the sailors, much to my annoyance. They carried the bags down the gangplank and set them in the carriage that was waiting for me there. I said goodbye to all of the sailors, who were very surprised, for the most part, when I called each by name.

I got into the carriage, and after settling myself, I tapped on the front panel to let the driver know I was ready to leave. I felt the carriage start moving immediately, being pulled by two Komodo rhinos. I was rather amused by the stares the carriage got as we moved through the city. Apparently, Zuko didn't bring a lot of people directly from the docks to the palace by carriage. Well, didn't that make me feel special.

It was probably only a few minutes, but it felt like it took hours to get to the palace. I felt the carriage pause a moment, then continue. I figured that we must have just passed through the gates, and realized that it would only be a moment before I would finally get to see Zuko again, not to mention the rest of Team Avatar.

Sokka was the only member I saw on a regular basis, with us being siblings and all. I saw Aang every few months, but it wasn't very often and never for very long. The whole world needed him, not just me. That's why I ended our relationship. I felt bad, after seeing his crushed expression, but I knew it was the right thing to do. What I felt for Aang was too similar to how I felt about Sokka – sibling love. Toph I saw once or twice a year, maybe. It had been almost four years since the defeat of Phoenix King Ozai, four years I had spent trying to help the Southern Water Tribe regain its footing. Our sister tribe had sent us plenty of Waterbenders, and together with Sokka they had built up the Tribe so it was coming along to the size of the Northern Water Tribe. I trained the young Waterbenders with Master Pakku, my grandfather, or helped build, much to the annoyance of the male benders. They were annoyed because I was so much better than them.

The carriage jerked to a halt, and a moment later, the door swung open. I hopped easily down the steps, wearing my old Fire Nation disguise. It had been Aang's idea, wearing the clothes we used to wear while on the run. I thought it was a great idea, like everyone else. So I now stood before the royal palace in a midriff-bearing shirt and leggings with my hair tied up in a Fire Nation style instead of my usual Water Tribe loopies.

The palace was as beautiful as I remembered from the time I had spent here after the war. The sweeping, graceful design was less intimidating than I remembered; apparently, Zuko had done a bit of renovating during the time I'd been gone. There was less of a military air now, with more focus on culture and peace. It was very soothing after the hectic building going on at home.

Three servants appeared, with two taking my bags while the other bowed. Still looking at the ground, he spoke to me.

"It is an honor to meet you, Master Katara. Fire Lord Zuko sent me to apologize for not being here to meet you himself. A meeting was called by the Earth Kingdom ambassadors at the last moment, and the Fire Lord was obliged to go for the sake of peace. He requested that I bring you wherever you should wish to go. Would you like to see you rooms? Or I can bring you to the kitchen to get something to eat. Or the practice arena, if you should wish." I blinked at the list of suggestions. Seems like Zuko was determined to make me feel comfortable, even if he wasn't there to greet me himself.

"I think that I'd like to go to the arena, if it's not too much trouble," I decided. The servant nodded.

"It's no trouble at all, Master. Please, this way," he said with a gesture of his hand. I followed him into the palace. We traveled through several hallways lined with artwork of all nations, a fact that didn't escape me. It seemed that Zuko was determined to make it clear that all he wanted was inter-nation unity. I, for one, was pleased.

Several minutes later, we exited the palace. We were standing in a large, stone arena. It reminded me eerily of the place where Zuko and Azula had fought their Agni Kai on the day of Sozin's Comet. I suppressed a shudder at the memory. I could still clearly picture Zuko leaping in front of me and taking a bolt of lightning meant to kill me. I'd never asked him why, I realized. It had been a topic to avoid each time we saw each other, unless it was a healing session.

"Here we are Master, the training arena. Fire Lord Zuko had those large water troughs brought out so you would be able to practice. If you need anything, just yell for a servant."

"What name should I call, if I'm looking for someone?" The servant looked startled.

"My name is Chan," the servant told me. "I suppose you could call my name if you were looking for me specifically. Otherwise, just call out the word servant. Someone will come." I nodded, and Chan bowed then left.

I turned to examine the water troughs. It seemed that Zuko knew what he was doing, or had consulted a waterbender, because the two troughs were more than sufficient. Each held several gallons of water, more than enough for any of my usual combat moves. I would only need this much water if I was trying to make a tidal wave big enough to destroy the entire arena, plus a bit of the palace. I grinned, and started bending.

I started with a water whip, a technique that I had once struggled with, but now was natural as breathing. I easily flowed into more and more complicated techniques, until I was using the ones I had learned mere weeks ago with Master Pakku. I don't know how long I bended, but once my vision got a little weird, I decided it was time to stop. I let the ice disks I'd been using to attack a pillar dissolve back into water, which I returned to the trough. Thankfully, the Fire Nation clothes were nowhere near as warm as my usual cold-weather outfit, which allowed me to sweat more freely, thus keeping me cooler. I walked drunkenly to the trough, where I took a nice, long drink. I sighed contentedly as the water slid down my throat. Suddenly, lonely applause broke out in one corner of the arena.

I whipped around, and saw Fire Lord Zuko leaning casually against a pole in the corner, clapping. He was wearing the outfit I remembered from when he had joined our group, just before the defeat of Ozai. His hair was flopping down in his face instead of up in the hideous topknot that most Fire Nation nobles seemed to wear. When he saw that I'd noticed him, he stood up properly and walked over.

"Impressive as usual Katara. And here I was thinking that you might have actually slowed down the frantic pace at which you learn Waterbending. It would seem not," he said with a smirk.

I felt my whole face light up at the sight of Zuko, and when I heard him speak to me like we were back at Ember Island, before the defeat of Ozai. I leaped over to him and threw my arms around him with unrestrained joy. He burst out laughing and hugged me back, tightly. I pulled away after a moment, and looked into his face. I saw the happiness in his eyes, which I assumed was because of me. But there was a shadow across his face, which made him look old, tired, and impossibly sad. I gently put a hand on his scar, and he smiled sadly, putting his hand on mine.

"You're the only one other than Mai who'll touch my scar you know," he said sadly. "Everyone else, even the others from Team Avatar, just look at it funny. Some of them try to pretend it's not there. That's always entertaining." A tiny, real smile had appeared on his lips. I smiled too.

"Well, I think we both remember when we were trapped in the Crystal Catacombs of Ba Sing Se. I am a healer, so few injuries are too gruesome for me. Speaking of injuries, how's that wound from Azula's lightning doing?"

"Once a healer, always a healer, I suppose," he said with a laugh. "I'll let you check it out later, okay? But for now, we're going to go greet everyone else. And you're not going to worry about it."

"Is that an order from the Fire Lord?" I asked with a teasing tone.

"It very well could be," he threatened. He offered an arm, which I readily took, laughing.

_Oh yeah, _I thought. _It's good to be back with my friends._

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><p><strong>AN: Well, what did you think? Believable? Stupid? Strange? Engaging? That little button down there, the one that says review on it seems to be asking for your opinion…. Why don't you oblige!<strong>


	2. A Happy Reunion Sort Of

**AN: Wow, thanks to everyone for reviewing! I was shocked when I saw that 6 of you added this to story alert, 4 added this as a favorite, and one person added me as a favorite author. :O the wow face has come out. That's how amazed I am. And if there's more, because I probably won't check until after this is posted, I'll be even more amazed. Here's the next chapter of Force of Impact! But first…**

**Ruby of Raven ~ Yes, they got married about two months after Zuko's coronation.**

**animallover2000 ~ Don't worry; I don't particularly like Mai either, so it'll mostly be Zuko and Katara.**

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><p>Chapter 2: A Happy Reunion… Sort Of<p>

I walked arm and arm with Zuko through the palace, chatting easily. He led me through the hallways with an ease that surprised me. Clearly he knew where he was going even though I was more lost than I'd ever been in my life.

After a few minutes, we arrived at a set of ornate double doors. Two servants scrambled to open them for us. I made a move as if to protest, but Zuko tugged on my arm. When I looked at him, he shook his head slightly.

"No matter what you say to them, they won't stop. They just look at you like you're crazy." Zuko's mouth was close to my ear as he whispered his explanation. A weird tingly feeling was shooting through my neck where his breath was skimming over my skin and I felt my heart kick up a couple notches. _That's not something I remember happening around Zuko, _I thought. But even if I'd never felt it before, I kind of liked it.

I nodded to show Zuko I understood, and he inclined his head at the doorway, leading me to step through the doorway. I followed him into a huge room with an extremely long table. It was set with all sorts of plates and utensils, as if there was to be some sort of feast. I looked at Zuko in amazement.

"Is all this for us?" Zuko nodded, a grin spreading slowly across his face as my jaw dropped in shock.

"But… Zuko you shouldn't have! We don't need all this!"

"But I wanted to," Zuko said with chuckle. "Besides, you all deserve this. You're my best friends. You were there for me when no one else was. Not to mention that you all helped save the world from Ozai. I think you deserve at least a feast, if not more." I shook my head in disbelief, but didn't argue. He led me along the table where I took a seat at his right, while he himself sat at the head of the table.

"Where's everyone else? Sokka and Suki both told me they were coming, and I'm going to take a hazard guess that Toph and Aang are on their way too." Zuko smirked, a tiny chuckle escaping from his mouth.

"You always were the perceptive one Katara. Sokka and Suki's boat should be docking sometime in the next ten minutes. Aang said he was going to get Toph from her parents' house in Gaoling before coming here. I expect they should be here in an hour or so."

"If they're not going to be here for an hour, why are we waiting in the dining room?" Zuko's smirk grew.

"Well, what do you propose we do while we wait?" I sat back for a minute to think. Then a huge grin spread slowly across my face.

"I think we should spar. We haven't done that since before the comet came, and it's horribly boring sparring only with waterbenders at home, which is all I've done for four years." Zuko was now grinning like a rabid hyena-dillo and he stood up fluidly, reaching for my hand.

"Sounds perfect. Let's go," he told me. The grin on my face widened as I stood up, holding Zuko's hand. He led me to a different training arena then the one I'd been in earlier. This one had plenty of soldiers training in firebending, and was nearly three times the size. At the approach of the Fire Lord, the soldiers stopped their drills and turned to him. They bowed in the traditional Fire Nation style and he inclined his head in return.

"Fire Lord, you honor us with your presence today. To what do we owe this pleasure?" The commander of the guard had stepped up and was bowing to Zuko while he spoke.

"Hello Captain Kuzin. I'm here today to spar with an old friend," Zuko explained, pulling me out to stand beside him. The captain's eyes widened at the sight of me, and he bowed again.

"Master Waterbender! It is an honor to meet you," he said in a revering tone. A smile twitched my lips – he reminded me of everyone on the boat that had brought me here.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, captain. I hope we haven't interrupted your drills," I replied with a smooth hand gesture at the men. Captain Kuzin shook his head firmly.

"No need to worry about that, Master. My men are honored to give up the field to allow their Fire Lord and a celebrated master waterbender to train." He turned and gestured to the men, who immediately moved to the sides of the field. Two of them dragged two large, water-filled urns to the sides of our training area, which pleased me greatly. I supposed that they kept them on hand in case of any firebending accidents, which I'm sure happened pretty frequently.

Zuko and I took up positions at opposite ends of the field. He pulled off his simple shirt, revealing an exceptionally well-muscled chest. I resisted the urge to stare and blush. I yanked my hair up all the way with my hair loopies still hanging down around my face, then took my waterbending stance. Zuko took a much more aggressive-looking firebending stance across from me. There was a pregnant pause before Zuko abruptly attacked.

Much as I remembered, the firebender attacked first, conforming to the usual aggressive tactics. A blazing arc of flame exploded from his palms, sweeping towards me. I pulled the water out of the urns to create a massive water shield that caused the flames to dissolve into harmless steam. I created several ice daggers, which I launched at the Fire Lord, only to have him melt them with his flames. I joined the water from the daggers together and formed a ball of water, hitting him directly in the stomach. He grunted but regained his stance and threw several fireballs my way. Using the octopus technique (which involved surrounding myself with eight tentacles of water) I knocked them out of the air before they could get anywhere near me. Zuko narrowed his eyes and let out a frustrated growl before throwing another blazing arc at me. I dodged, but when I looked up, four fireballs were sailing at my head. I yelped in alarm and threw my hands up. The water followed my direction, sloshing up into a wall of sorts that the flames mostly dissolved against. Some sparks licked over the top, and one hit me in the ear, but nothing major. I watched Zuko as we sparred back and forth, neither able to gain the advantage. I noticed that he seemed to require a steady footing for most of his moves. That gave me an idea.

I dissolved his next round of fire before it was anywhere near me, surprising him. I pulled my arms above my head, drawing all the water out of the urns. There was enough to cover the entire field, which was a relief. I threw my arms down and out, spreading the water across the ground. Then, with a quick motion, I froze it.

To say that Zuko was startled was a massive understatement. The minute the ground became slippery beneath him, he fell on his butt. He tried to shoot flames at me, to distract me, but the fire was weak, and I dodged easily. I pulled my hands up, causing the ice to snake upward and freeze his wrists to the ground, palms up to prevent firebending. I almost forgot he could firebend through his feet, until he started trying to melt the ice. I sprinted over, moving easily over the ice, until I was standing right in front of him. I punched him in the stomach, causing him to grunt and throw his feet upward. Quick as lightning, I shot up two tendrils of ice to hold his ankles up in the air. I put one hand on his chest to hold him down and raised an icicle above his head so that if this were a real fight, I could've driven it into his brain. But this was supposed to be friendly, so I left it hovering just above his head, a grin on my face as I hovered over him.

"I think this counts as a win for me," I said with a grin. Zuko attempted to smile, but it came out as a grimace.

"Yes, I think it does. There is one thing you forgot though."

"Oh really? And what would that be?"

"I can firebend out of my mouth too," he deadpanned. My mouth opened a little in shock.

"Oh. Um… I guess that would make me dead in a real fight."

"Mmhhmm. Now, would you mind getting off me? The soldiers are staring." His request was in a mild tone, but I jerked off like I'd been shot with lightning. I unfroze him, and the rest of the field, returning the water in equal portions to the urns. When she turned back, Zuko was on his feet again. His eyes were unfocused as he glanced around the training area, and he looked extremely lonely. Captain Kuzin stepped forward with an awed expression. He bowed, first to Zuko who nodded in acceptance, and then, much to my surprise, he bowed to me as well.

"Fire Lord, Master Waterbender… that was quite probably some of the most impressive bending I've ever seen. I know that the men feel the same way," he continued with a gesture towards the soldiers. "We are honored that two masters of such high level as your own would consent to allow us to watch your spar." I felt heat rise in my cheeks as praise after praise was heaped on my head. Zuko smiled faintly, but his face was still overshadowed by sadness. Though his sadness was clear as day to me, I knew that he was hiding it from his soldiers. No need to appear weak. I felt a surge of compassion; even his over-inflated ego couldn't drag him out of his sadness. That was something I'd not seen since Yue's death had affected Sokka in a similar way. It broke my heart to see Zuko like this. While he'd seemed to enjoy himself during the fight, he couldn't bring himself to enjoy the aftermath, a fact that disturbed my greatly.

I watched as the soldiers moved the urns back to their original positions. They formed up in ranks and began their drills. I watched, fascinated, as they shot flames in such a way that there was almost no risk of anyone getting hit. I loved watching them control the flames, though I knew that it was much more difficult than controlling water. Aang had explained to me once that, unlike water, fire had a mind of its own. It wanted to eat and burn and destroy everything in its path. Water was content to be moved because of its natural ability to flow and change shape.

I started as a hand fell on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Zuko's face. He was watching the soldiers too, though he sensed my eyes on him and turned to look me in the eye. Though his face seemed lighter, his eyes were very sad. Instead of the usual glowing golden color, they were more of a dull amber.

"Mai used to come out here to train with them every day," he explained in a soft tone, returning his attentions to the soldiers. "She would throw knives at them so they would be able to fight her as if she were really a threat. She won almost every time." A melancholy smile twitched his lips. "She was so beautiful when she was training. Her eyes would like up like someone had lit sparks in them. She seemed so much… lighter, more at ease out there with her knives. I don't know why, but it was something that soothed her."

"If you don't mind my saying," I started tentatively. When he nodded, I continued. "I think knife throwing was her equivalent to bending. I know that I always feel better after a nice, long waterbending session. Maybe that's why she liked it so much." Zuko smiled slightly, a real one this time.

"You know, I think you might just be right. And I also think that we should get out of here. Captain Kuzin looks like he wants to kick us out but can't because of our social ranking." He nodded to the captain, who bowed to both of us. I mimicked Zuko, and then followed him out of the training arena. We walked back towards the main palace in companionable silence. I stole a glance at him every few minutes, and saw that the sadness seemed deeply rooted in his eyes. He led me back to the ornate doors, then halted. He went over to one of the servants standing by the door and said something to him. The young man immediately ran off and Zuko came to stand beside me. I was about to ask what was going on, but he shook his head once to ward off my unasked question. We waited in silence for what felt like an hour, but I knew that in reality it was really only a few minutes. Then I heard footsteps approaching from the direction that the servant had run off in. A moment later, the servant rounded the corner and took up his post by the door once again. Then another person rounded the corner.

It was a woman, probably in her late forties or early fifties, judging from the streaks of gray and white in her hair. She wore servant's clothing, but it didn't diminish her air of command. She approached Zuko and I directly, bowing. She looked at the floor as she addressed us.

"My Lord, you have summoned me and I have come. Do you require a particular service?"

"Yes, a most important one. Katara, this is Lo Fong. As long as she doesn't mind, she will be your personal servant while you're here." I was about to object, but Lo Kang beat me to it.

"My Lord, I would be honored to serve the most highly esteemed waterbending master." I realized there was nothing I could say to that, and just nodded dejectedly when Zuko looked at me questioningly. A faint smile twitched at the corners of him mouth and his eyes lightened ever so slightly, but he didn't say anything.

"Well, now that this small matter has been settled; Lo Kang, would you please escort Master Katara to her rooms to wash up before dinner?" Lo Kang nodded and Zuko gestured for me to follow her. I did so most grudgingly, though I was grateful that I had someone who knew their way around the palace to keep me company. Besides Zuko of course.

"Follow me, if you would, my lady," said Lo Kang. Suppressing a quiet sigh, I turned to follow the aging woman to my rooms.

"Katara." I turned as I heard Zuko call my name. A grin was twitching at the corner of his mouth. "I missed sparring with you. Thanks ever so much _master waterbender."_ I chuckled and curtsied in a mocking way. He gave an equally ridiculous bow, making me laugh out loud. I was still grinning as Lo Kang led me to my rooms.

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><p><strong>AN: Eh, I didn't like the ending of that one so much. What did you guys think of the fight scene? I'm very curious! I really tried to show that while Zuko is externally happy, Mai's death is tearing him to shreds on the inside. A helpful reviewer pointed out that he was a little too happy for someone who just lost his love. Review my fellow benders! I will post a new chapter as soon as I finish writing it!<strong>


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